Out of the Ashes, Into the Fire
by AnnieInWonderland07
Summary: The war has ended. Everything has slowly fallen into place. Even with the dead, Konohagakure rose from the ashes along with the Alliance, stronger than ever. Naruto stood tall, but the girl who wished to hold his hand for all time disappeared into the background – forgotten. Nobody knows where Hinata stood with Naruto now, but with a new string of events, is that really the case?
1. Chapter 1 - The Dust Settling

**I know it's crazy when I haven't even started updating my other fan fics (the truth of the matter is that I was in progress with a lot of updates up until my laptop decided to give up on me after almost 10 years of faithful service. And I, its loathsome mistress, never had the nerve, or common sense, to actually save up for a new one and relied solely on repairs) but I have decided to finally follow my heart's wishes and dish out a new one. This time, to answer my muse – Naruto. **

**I've been inclined towards Bleach for years and have been neglecting Naruto, thinking that someday, Kubo Tite would finally bump his head against a toilet seat and have enough sense for a better plot line. However, since he madly abused the great potential of the Hueco Mundo arc and the following arcs after that, ending cheaply in a WOAH-WTF-QUINCIES-MAKE-SENSE arc, I have set my sights on other manga as my main focus. And while I have gone for less mainstream manga and devoured the under-appreciated titles, I also mustered the courage to actually take a peek at Naruto where I left it off. And lo and behold, the plot has made me explode with excitement (ignoring a few questions in my head, but still…). And since that gutsy confession from my beloved gal, Hinata, (which brought me back to my former OTP in Bleach and effectively shot down my hopes that Kubo would follow through with the balls he intended Orihime to grow when he made her think that she was going to do something about the Hougyoku **_**that he conveniently forgot as the arc progressed, leaving Orihime in a flailing, forgotten mess) **_**I decided to give Naruto some love. And Kishimoto-san some credit.**

**So, here it is. An attempt at a Naruto fan fic. Featuring, of course, my ship – NaruHina. I was a main shipper of SasuSaku and KibaIno before them, since I almost always ship couples that don't feature the main character (or are crack). But that Confession chapter just broke my heart. *sobs* A bad case of rubbing salt on my already broken heart (outside of the virtual world, but yes…).**

**Enough of my rambling. Here goes.**

**Summary: The war has ended. Everything has, slowly, fallen into place. Even with the dead, Konohagakure rose from the ashes along with the Alliance, stronger than ever. Naruto stood tall, but the girl who wished to hold his hand for all time disappeared into the background – forgotten. But is that really the case?**

**Out of the Ashes, Into the Fire**

_**A Naruto x Hinata Story**_

**Chapter 1**

The Dust Settling

Countless faces drowned Uzumaki Naruto's vision. Strange it would seem to him, the once discriminated, to see men, women, and children smiling up at him with all the hope, admiration, and love in their eyes. From the prankster who was considered as a bane to the society to the village's most prized hero and treasure, Naruto had come a long way. From the struggles of his shadowy and bumpy past, he rose, mightier than a phoenix, to that place where he yearned for.

He was not yet Hokage, as was his dream. But he was acknowledged by the villagers whom he once loved one-sidedly. He laid his life for them and stuck by his ninja way. He, with the help and support of his friends and comrades, finally wrote the final chapters of the cycle of hatred that has consumed so many in this world ruled by shinobi.

Uchiha Obito has done a part of his dream – he had successfully scarred the world and made a foul mark upon it. He and Uchiha Madara had not quite, thankfully, put everyone in an eternal slumber, but they had still taken away hundreds of lives that could very well start another chain of hatred. However, Uzumaki Naruto's indomitable Will of the Fire will make sure that nothing of that sort will ever happen again.

Naruto felt dazed. Even weeks after the culmination of the greatest shinobi war in the history, people were still flocking towards him. The reestablishment of Konoha was slow but sure, and everyone was filled with high hopes for the future. Many believed that the Sage of the Six Paths was reborn through Naruto. The time for peace has come.

The blonde ninja was inclined to believe that too. However, he could not completely lie to himself. As optimistic as he was, he knew that there were still people who felt the need to disturb the peace for whatever selfish reason. Peace could not be attained without effort. But for now, this moment of happiness would do.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, dobe," a flat voice said from behind him.

Naruto smirked. Uchiha Sasuke, his best friend. The once rogue ninja who had suddenly aspired to be another Hokage contender. Sasuke, even with what he did in the past in pursuit of revenge, has definitely proven himself as someone who wants to change the shinobi system in Konoha to avoid more Itachis. His elder brother, who had loved the village and sacrificed his entire being for it, was his inspiration for the drastic change in perspective.

It was too soon to say that everyone had quite forgotten what Sasuke had done, but to Naruto, it was all water under the bridge. He did not care. Sasuke was good deep down. Only three people truly believed in the goodness that lay beneath the cold exterior – him, their teammate Haruno Sakura, and their sensei, Hatake Kakashi.

The villagers and the entire shinobi army have seen Sasuke's contribution and the birth of his Will. Together, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura became the main contenders for the destruction of Uchiha Obito and Uchiha Madara. They have become the reincarnation of the Legendary Sannin.

"Can't," Naruto replied amusedly. "You might try something like this too, teme."

Sasuke ignored the jibe and spoke, "Sakura told me that we're expected at the Hokage's office."

The blonde's eyebrows furrowed. "Not another celebration. I don't ever want to see Granny Tsunade drunk again."

"I doubt it's another one of those things," Sasuke commented. The Uchiha said no more and walked away, with people respectfully (albeit a bit fearfully), making way.

_The teme has got to show a bit of his friendly side to the people, _Naruto thought, shaking his head slightly. "OI WAIT!" he yelled, running after Sasuke.

* * *

"Is it true, shishou?" Sakura said, staring in disbelief at Senju Tsunade, 5th Hokage of Konoha.

The older woman clasped her hands under her chin. "As much as I want to Sakura, it's only right to step down for a while."

Without warning, the doors to the Hokage's office sprang open. As usual, the only person with the gall to walk in as if he owned the place was Naruto, with a frowning Sasuke trailing closely behind.

"Knock, Naruto," Sakura said through gritted teeth. "Honestly, show some respect."

"Why did you call us in here, Tsunade-baa-chan?" Naruto asked, ignoring Sakura completely, irking the pink haired kunoichi.

But under Tsunade's reproving glare, Sakura restrained herself from punching the living daylights out of Naruto. "I've called you here," the Hokage said, "to inform you that I have decided to take an early retirement."

Sasuke's eyes widened for a fraction, searching Tsunade's face critically. From what he could see, the legendary sannin wasn't jesting. Everything he learned from this powerful kunoichi through reports and from the description of an unusually nostalgic Orochimaru, Tsunade was someone who never wanted the Hokage position in the first place. She had motivation, however, from the equally legendary dobe himself. But, after the carnage and the exhaustion of the war, no one could blame this woman, who has seen enough wars herself, to retreat into obscurity again.

Sasuke's onyx eyes moved to Sakura. She was also staring at her shishou, her face forlorn. No one could blame her. She was the closest thing Tsunade had for a daughter. He could only imagine the uncertainty Sakura must be feeling like wondering where her master would hide off to, like what she did for the previous years before being appointed as Hokage. Naruto was a grieving mess from what the dobe told him when Jiraiya died. Luckily, Sasuke never shared such a close bond with his sannin mentor, Orochimaru. The idea of closeness for the snake sannin wasn't exactly cozy and comfortable. It was the idea of closeness that equated to turning your disciple's body into a monster and doing unspeakable tests on them.

He was shaken out of his thoughts with Naruto's yell, "Why the hell would you resign, Granny?!"

There was a visible nerve ticking on Tsunade's forehead, not because of the sense of the question itself, but the way it was delivered. "I retire _when _I want to retire, Naruto. It's none of your business. I just called you in here to inform you."

"Where are you going, shishou?" Sakura asked in a hushed tone.

"Believe it or not, off on a mission," Tsunade replied. "A very personal one, I might add. And it may take me a long time before coming back."

"Don't try asking what the mission is, dobe," Sasuke interjected, seeing what Naruto was about to ask. "It's a _mission."_

Tsunade regarded the Uchiha with mild surprise. "Thank you, Sasuke," she turned to Sakura. "Don't worry, Sakura. I shall leave Shizune here. I have taken another shinobi to accompany me on this very important task. There is no assurance of return, and it seems that I and my companion are the only ones suitable for the task."

"No assurance?" Sakura repeated, her face turning pale.

Tsunade chuckled. "Well, if I decide to retreat somewhere after this tiring mission, then I won't return for a while, will I? I'd be having fun for a while."

"I still don't understand," Naruto said, turning serious. "Who's going to replace you, Granny? I can't think of you leaving at a time as crucial as this."

"The elders and the daimyo have already appointed Kakashi as my successor," the blonde kunoichi said with finality.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI?!" Naruto blurted out, almost dropping over.

"That's a fine reaction," a bored voice said from the window of the Hokage's office.

It was Kakashi, reading one of his Icha Icha novels again. "I assure you I have no intention or desire of being Hokage. As Shikamaru often says, it's too troublesome."

"Tsk," Sasuke said. "Can't imagine."

Sakura stifled a laugh. "Congratulations, Kakashi-sensei."

"Thank you, Sakura," Kakashi replied. "Now I wonder how I'm going to fill the position my sensei once held."

Everyone stopped as they turned to Naruto, who was sputtering. He seemed to be choking on something. Slowly, blood crept to his face, making it turn brick red. Sakura inched towards him, worried that he was going through a convulsion. Even Sasuke was a bit alarmed when Naruto fell on all fours, panting and sweating.

"What's wrong with you, dobe?" Sasuke asked, staring at his heaving back.

"H-how…?" Naruto gasped.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, falling to her knees and starting to examine Naruto, when suddenly Naruto jumped to his feet.

"HOW THE HELL WILL YOUR FACE LOOK LIKE ON THE MOUNTAIN WHEN IT'S HALF COVERED UP?!"

* * *

BOOM!

Hyuuga Hinata instinctively activated her Byakugan as she looked for the source of the explosion. Her kekkei genkai immediately pinpointed it as the Hokage office.

_What's going on? _

Without thinking twice, she immediately ran from the Hyuuga compound, flitting from roof to roof, until she reached her destination.

She had been wondering with nothing to do for the past three days. Everything had been a blur to her. With the death of her beloved cousin, Hyuuga Neji, still hanging over her like the plague, it was hard to be completely happy with everyone. It was hard to attend celebrations without thinking about the ongoing funeral service that was happening in their estate. It was hard not to think about the pain of loss of someone who was so essential to her life – someone who made and encouraged her to be strong in more ways than one.

Neji had always seemed so strong, so indomitable – the prized Hyuuga genius. A genius who was deprived of a destined birthright befitting his talents simply because of his order of birth. Hinata, who was weaker by far and who was also as timid as any plain girl, was bestowed the honor of being the next Hyuuga head. It was an honor that she never really wished to have, but she had no choice. She decided that it was an honor and responsibility she had to take to change the world. It was an honor that she would take for Neji's sake and his memory. It was an honor that she would take to walk side by side with the man she loved.

The man she loved – Uzumaki Naruto.

Months have passed since her confession. Months have passed since that battle with Pain which sometimes still left chills down her body during evenings. If she could turn back time, she would gladly sacrifice herself again for her beloved. But looking back, even with the peace that already enveloped Konoha and the world right now, there was no return to that fateful encounter. She never had any response from Naruto.

But she should see it coming. Naruto was now the hero of the village. She had willingly and happily stood by his side in accomplishing all of that. The return of her feelings never took top priority. Her only goal was to show Naruto how much she loved him. There was no need for him to reciprocate. She was happy as she was. Naruto simply had no time for anything else right now. She shouldn't be selfish.

Should she?

_I've no choice. I have to do something with my life. I have to find myself before anything else… perhaps this is the way. To keep holding Naruto's hand._

She heard a yell coming from the office, shaking her from her train of thought.

She was stopped from her ascent to the tower when her eyes caught four figures in the middle of mauling what seemed like another person who was already sprawled on the floor.

From what she could see, there was nothing wrong. It seemed that Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Tsunade where in the middle of something. However, that didn't stop the caring kunoichi from actually swinging by to make sure everything was fine.

She perched near the window of Tsunade's office and peered in. "A-anou…?"

Four heads turned towards her, all seemingly furious. Kakashi, however, was the only one who was relaxed. He seemed to be having a lot of fun at what the other three were doing.

Doing, meaning, simultaneously pounding a seemingly lifeless body that belonged to a blonde ninja.

Blonde…

"N-Naruto-kun?!" Hinata gasped.

"Hinata!" Tsunade said. "Just in time!"

"T-Tsunade-sama!" Hinata said, still looking at Naruto. Thankfully from her Byakugan, she could see that Naruto was still alive. But maybe only just. "W-what happened?"

"Naruto was being his usual idiotic self," Sakura supplied, earning an approving glare from Sasuke.

"He took the news of my being the new Hokage well," Kakashi said amusedly, his eyes crinkling.

"I-I see," Hinata said, visibly relaxing. It seemed that Naruto had one of his hyperactive moments again.

"You're not surprised at all," Sasuke said, eyeing Hinata carefully.

"Not to worry, Sasuke," Tsunade said. "Hinata already knows about the news."

"I thought we were the first ones to know?" Sakura said. Hinata blushed at this, staring at the Hokage for help.

"Technically, the advisers and the daimyo are the first ones to know, aside from Shizune and I," Tsunade said smartly, grinning from ear to ear. "Then of course, Kakashi had to be informed, otherwise the point would be moot. The next one to be informed should be Hinata."

"_Should be _Hinata?" Sasuke repeated, picking up Tsunade's choice of words quickly.

"I-I volunteered to accompany Tsunade-sama on her mission," Hinata said, her voice gaining a bit of confidence which surprised everybody, along with what she said.

As sudden as the quiet came, a voice split through the silence, surprising them all and making them remember about the sixth person in the room.

Cerulean eyes clashed against white ones. "What?"

* * *

"She has already decided on this?" Hyuuga Hiashi asked his younger daughter, Hyuuga Hanabi.

"Yes, father," the girl replied. "There's nothing stopping her."

The head of the clan shook his head. "Why would she leave at a time like this? Along with the Hokage it all seems so…"

"Selfish, I know," Hanabi bravely interrupted. She knew where this conversation was heading, but she already made up her mind. She swore to Hinata. "But this is the path she has chosen for now. Let her be. She wants to be strong."

"She already is."

"Well, you haven't exactly shown her that you know that, father."

Hiashi looked at Hanabi, surprised at the boldness of her words. She was always the more outspoken and strong-willed one of his two daughters. She inherited his stubbornness and tenacity while Hinata inherited all the softness and gentleness of his wife. With his expectations, he placed all hopes on Hanabi for the future of his clan, without ever seeing the same tenacity he had in him in Hinata – Hinata who has always strived to prove herself with hard work. Neji was one of the few who saw that. And of course, there was that kid, Uzumaki Naruto.

"That kid, Uzumaki Naruto," Hiashi suddenly said, surprising Hanabi.

Hanabi stopped herself from giggling. "You noticed, father?"

"Of course I would," Hiashi said. "Only a blind man could overlook this, and we, Hyuugas, are more than any perceptive person."

"Only _he _doesn't seem to notice," Hanabi added ruefully. "Thankfully, onee-sama finally confessed."

"As I have heard," Hiashi said, hiding the fact that he was actually flummoxed about all of these things concerning his daughter's love life.

Hanabi was astonished as well. She never knew that their father knew _that much. Poor Hinata, _she thought.

"Don't tell me that she might be doing this for that kid's sake?" Hiashi finally spoke his mind.

"He's no longer _that kid, _father. He saved the entire village. The entire world."

"I know that. Still, even with his excellence, no man is good enough for any of my daughters."

Hanabi visibly planted her palm on her face. "Father, Hinata is doing this for herself. Yes, she might be inspired by Naruto. A little," Hiashi glared, "Okay, a _lot. _But she's doing this to strengthen herself. She needs to do this, father. Just give her a little trust."

"I have always given her trust," Hiashi said. "I may not have showed it, but all of those things were done to make her stronger."

"It's effective in some ways," Hanabi conceded. "But she still has to improve in a lot of ways. Only Tsunade-sama can help her now."

Hiashi stopped arguing for now. He stood up and looked outside the window of his office in the Hyuuga compound. "Has she packed yet?"

"She has," Hanabi replied, smiling at her father's acceptance.

"You will send her off?" he added.

"Yes," the young kunoichi said, standing up.

"Good," Hiashi said. There were no gentle and loving goodbye's to be expected from this man, that much Hanabi expected. But his acceptance was more than enough. Hinata would be overjoyed.

As Hanabi turned to walk out of the door, Hiashi spoke, "And Hanabi?"

Hanabi stopped. "Yes, father?"

"If Uzumaki Naruto is to come here to our house for your sister, it would only be right that you bring Sarutobi Konohamaru as well. Let's say some time this week, at the progress you two are having."

No one knew what happened next. It was safe to say that a certain kunoichi promptly fainted like her older sister so often does.

* * *

Naruto stared at Hinata's furiously blushing face. He saw her eyes flit from him, to Sakura, to Sasuke, to Kakashi, then to Tsunade. Her eyes stopped at the Hokage, who seemed to be battling with herself whether or not she would answer the blonde-haired shinobi.

"Naruto…" Tsunade started to say.

"So that means you'll be going away for a while?" Naruto asked once more, not knowing what the impact of his words was to Hinata or to anyone else observing them.

_What's going on with you? _Sasuke wondered. He had never seen Naruto react this way. There was a strange blankness about him, as if he had learned a few tricks from the Uchiha himself in masking his emotions. From experience, Sasuke knew that there was never anything good stemming from this sort of calm. Naruto was hiding something. And it's somehow related to this shy Hyuuga.

For all Sasuke knew, he had realized even before that Hyuuga Hinata had some sort of admiration for the dobe. He wondered so many times what the reason was, but he never pondered on them. When he was younger, it was a huge relief that not _everyone _in his class had a crush on him. Hyuuga Hinata had always been different – reserved, gentle. She was smart and talented, he would give her that, but she was nowhere as known as the other kunoichi of the Rookie 12. Ino, Sakura, and TenTen had always overshadowed her in some way. She was always so obscure.

Sakura suppressed a knowing smile. From what she could see, Sasuke was confused and curious at this exchange. With that, she gave a quick glance at Sasuke, silently telling him that she would supply all details later. To her surprise, the Uchiha gave a subtle nod. It was true that after the war, Sasuke and Sakura's friendship had reached a somewhat different level. Sasuke was his usual self, but he showed that he finally acknowledged Sakura as a force to be reckoned with. No doubt it was because of the Byakugou and the monstrous blow the pink haired kunoichi delivered on the juubi during the war. Sakura could even remember the way Sasuke was awed and the way he smiled at what she did.

Anyway, she had no time for her own romantic fantasies of how much closer she had gotten with Sasuke. At the very least, she had the confidence to move forward with it. And it may seem that Sasuke didn't care, but at least, he wasn't dense when somebody obviously likes him.

Whereas these two…

_Naruto and Hinata definitely need a push._

Of course, no one could see the way Kakashi grinned under his mask.

From what he knew, Hinata had finally had the courage to confess her feelings to Naruto. It was done with all the dramatic effects that could make it a very effective scene in the Icha Icha novels. If only Jiraiya were to see it as inspiration…

Unfortunately, after the war, it seemed that Naruto hadn't made any step towards the Hyuuga heiress. There was absolutely no movement from his part. It seemed that Konoha's hero was too busy being the hero even after all the turmoil. Naruto had finally reached his dreams, but it seems that he was ignoring another important thing entirely.

But from what he was seeing, it seemed that that wasn't entirely the case.

"Y-yes," Hinata replied, thanking her stars that after everything that she had gone through with Naruto she no longer had the tendency to faint whenever she was around him. The constant stuttering was a habit that was a bit harder to work on but the lack of fainting was definitely an improvement.

"Why?" Naruto asked, walking towards where Hinata was.

Hinata clenched the ledge of the window where she had finally stood. She knew that she couldn't discuss details of the mission to any person, but the way Naruto's blue eyes were boring down on her made her lose her composure.

She steeled herself, however. _I am a kunoichi of Konohagakure. I have to do this. _"I have to do this, Naruto-kun," she said, her voice barely above a whisper yet filled with renewed determination.

"Are you going to train with baa-chan?" he asked, undeterred.

Hinata looked up in bewilderment. "Train?" she repeated.

Sakura interrupted them, "You're going to be Tsunade's disciple too, Hinata?"

At this, the Hokage cleared her throat, "Of course not. We all know that it takes the same amount and quality of chakra and control as I do to attain the same abilities. That's why, out of all the kunoichi, I chose you, Sakura."

Sakura reddened. "I know that, shishou, but still, Hinata could gain a lot from – "

"I-I am not training under Tsunade-sama, Sakura-san," Hinata said, smiling slightly. "The details of our mission can't be told, though. I apologize."

"No need," Sasuke said, to end everything else. "_We _should understand that above everything else." The emphasis to the word 'we' was given more meaning as he stared at Naruto pointedly.

Naruto frowned. "You don't have to go anywhere to be stronger, you know," he said, surprising Hinata. "I could help out."

"Surely you can't say that when you had to leave the village to train with Jiraiya," Kakashi said. "Let Hinata do what she wants to do. And besides, Tsunade-sama already said that this wasn't training."

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said, trying to appease the disturbed ninja. However, Naruto turned his back.

"Whatever," he said out of nowhere, leaving without another word.

"What's gotten into him?" Sasuke asked, turning to Sakura.

Sakura sighed. "I'm sorry, Hinata. I'm sure he just doesn't want you to go indefinitely."

Hinata's head hung low. "It's okay, Sakura-san. I'm sure he'd be sad if any of us left."

"Don't think about it too much," Tsunade said dismissively. "Start preparations, Hinata. We're going to leave soon."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," with that, Hinata left, a troubled look on her face.

"I'm not so sure about that," Sakura said.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, during Pain's attack, Hinata confessed her love to Naruto," Sakura said to make all things short for Sasuke.

Comically, Sasuke's mouth fell. Kakashi chuckled and Tsunade sighed.

"And? Dobe's upset over that?" Sasuke said.

Sakura shook her head in disappointment. "Of course. Not much has went on between them after the war. It's as if nothing happened, as far as Naruto is concerned. I don't get him. It's obvious that Hinata has been waiting a very long time. But knowing her, she'd probably tell herself that she's okay with all of this."

"That's Hinata after all," Tsunade remarked. "But we're not here to discuss their relationship. Anyway, you two had best run along and see to it that Naruto is fine. Kakashi and I still have to discuss some matters."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," Sakura said. Sasuke nodded. The two of them left quickly in search of their teammate.

"They're going to be a handful," Tsunade said, turning towards Kakashi.

"Well then, it's a good thing that I was their sensei for years. That gives me a great head start," Kakashi said, smiling once more.

* * *

**That's it. For now. *wink***


	2. Chapter 2 - Overcast

**Thank you guys for the kind reception. I won't talk long though. Here's the update and I hope you enjoy it.**

**Chapter 2**

Overcast

Naruto's love and passion were directed to several things and people in his life. All of which or all of whom have led him to see, at some point in time, that the love was unrequited.

There was a time when Naruto's love for the village was one-sided. He became a shinobi for the reasons of having the villagers acknowledging him, slowly molding into a bigger picture of wanting to protect the village that hated him from everything that threatened it. He saved the people who frowned upon him, and he did so with all the heart and might that he could muster.

There was a time when Naruto's love for his friends was one-sided. He looked upon his colleagues at the Academy with respect, knowing that even though they didn't want to have anything to do with him, he still didn't cause any sort of harm towards them or even remotely hated them. He had to earn their love and respect the hard way – often getting beaten up in the process.

There was a time when Naruto's love for a girl was one-sided. Haruno Sakura – the girl of his dreams. She was often the object of his youthful imagination, often wanting to have a date with her. But another boy always held her heart and he still did. Naruto would fight hard to gain her affections, even the remotest of attentions. But to Sakura, Naruto was more of a brother than anything else.

There was a time when Naruto's love for his best friend was one-sided. Uchiha Sasuke – the former rogue ninja. He tried to bring him back with all his power. He was inexhaustible, even though his teammate tried killing him more than once. Even though Sasuke told him face-to-face that he had severed his bond of friendship with Naruto. But Naruto fought on, regardless of the risks and the pain.

There was a time when Naruto's love for his Will and his Ninja Way was one-sided. How did not backing out on your word become a one-sided affair? Of course it would always be unrequited passion. Naruto never backed down on his word, even though the entire shinobi community had other ideas of their ninja ways. Even though the shinobi world was built with lies, hatred, wars, and hopelessness.

Things were never easy for Naruto. Because he always fought hard to be acknowledged and to be loved, he forgot that there was one thing, or person, with whom he didn't need to fight so hard for. He didn't need to bleed for this person to love him with all her heart and soul. This person saw him for who he was, even though he didn't do anything directly towards her for her to gain such feelings. She was just a silent observer, always looking at him from afar. But even though she was looking at him from a distance, she understood and loved him more than anyone who walked beside him.

This is, somehow, where Uzumaki Naruto failed. Because he loved things so one-sidedly, he was blind to others who could love him without any effort on his part. He failed to notice that there was one person who also loved one-sidedly. And that was Hyuuga Hinata.

Hinata was a lot like Naruto in so many ways. She loved a clan that only looked up at her because of her future title. She loved a father who expected too much from her. She loved a cousin who was jealous of her birth right. She loved a village that never saw through meekness. She loved a man who never saw her as a woman who loved him with everything that she had.

Naruto was on his bed, flat on his stomach, his head buried in his pillow. Surprisingly, he had been in this position, unmoving, for five hours. Three sets of knocks have already passed his door for the entire duration of his stillness, but he didn't bother to even get up at all. From the silence of the first visitor, he instantly knew that it was Sasuke, bored out of his wits and challenging Naruto to another spar. He couldn't blame the Uchiha. Even with his help during the war, there was still a bit of punishment for his momentary indiscretion. Tsunade called it as a formality and Naruto knew that she was pressured by the council to do so even though she could see that Sasuke already had changed. Thankfully, Sasuke didn't mind that he wasn't allowed to go on missions for a year. All he wanted, he said, was to have a chance to test his skills against Naruto. He happily obliged.

From the pounding of the second visit and the shriek of his name, Naruto knew that it was Sakura. Even with the intensity and obvious anger behind the tirade, he knew that his teammate was worried about him. But he can't face Sakura now because he knew that she had the tendency to pry. Right now, he just wasn't in the mood to answer. Even with his hyperactive self, he can't just put two and two together to even form a coherent sentence. Even he himself couldn't understand what was going on with him.

The third knock was, surprisingly, from Kiba. The dog-loving shinobi didn't visit Naruto too often. If he were, it was to inform him that he was tasked to deliver a message of some sort. Sometimes, it was to train with him. But this time, Naruto had the nagging feeling that it was because of something altogether different. He wouldn't be surprised if Shino was with him, but because the mysterious ninja was the silent type, Naruto wouldn't hear him from the other side of the door.

Naruto knew too well, even with his dense self, that the visit was about Hinata.

_What am I supposed to do then? Stop her? _

Sarcasm didn't suit Naruto, but it was becoming a habit as of late. Two days after finding out that Tsunade was leaving her post _with _Hinata and Hinata alone, Naruto was disturbed witless. He couldn't pinpoint the exact roots of this anxiety, but the dream he had the previous night shocked him to the core.

_Dark blue hair flew with the wind, the dust settling at the impact of the blow delivered. Naruto, with all the pain engulfing him with the chakra rods Pain inserted, looked up with the greatest of efforts, only to see the ready form of Hyuuga Hinata, poised to strike at any moment._

"_Reinforcements, eh?" Pain said, avoiding the hit._

"_I won't let you lay another finger on Naruto-kun!" Hinata said, surprising Naruto yet again with the strength in her voice._

_However, even that strength in her voice and that small ray of hope disappeared as fear gripped Naruto to the possibility of losing a comrade. Selfless as her decision may seem, it was downright impossibly stupid for her to take out someone of Pain's caliber._

"_What're you doing here?!" he yelled, wanting Hinata to see sense and just flee. "Get out of here! You're no match - !"_

"_I know," she replied, not even looking at him._

_Naruto was stunned._

"_I'm just being selfish."_

_**What? Selfish? **__Naruto raved. "What're you talking about?! What're you doing here?! It's too dangerous!"_

_He could almost hear his voice breaking in the strain of wanting Hinata to just move out of harm's way. Naruto cursed himself for being put in this helpless situation._

"_I'm here of my own free will," she said._

_**Free will? There would be no will left if Pain killed you. Please… please just stay away. **__Naruto's head was splitting at the thoughts running around inside of it._

"_I used to always cry and give up," Hinata suddenly added, her voice filled with an emotion Naruto couldn't place, "I nearly went the wrong way. But you… you showed me the right way…"_

_Naruto felt sweat dripping down his forehead, the pain in his body forgotten as his entire focus shifted to the young woman in front of him, saying words that meant absolutely nothing yet everything to him. His heart, throbbing with fear and with a constricting feeling that he couldn't name, was all that he could sense, along with Hinata._

"_I was always chasing you… wanting to overtake you," Hinata said, a hint of a smile in her words. Naruto couldn't see her face because her back was to him, but how he wished he could see her and try to find out what exactly she meant by her words. "I just wanted to talk with you…"_

_**But you have, Hinata. You always have, **__he tried to justify in his head._

"_I wanted to be with you."_

_Naruto froze for the hundredth time. __**You wanted to be with me?**_

_Her voice was breathless, gentle and full of unspoken memories. "You changed me! Your smile saved me…"_

_**If my smile saved you, please… Please Hinata, try to save yourself now. For my sake… I don't understand why you're doing this.**_

_But Naruto remained unheard. It was because all the things Hinata said rendered him speechless, and it would seem to be a pretty dumb moment not to say anything in return – even just to whisper how much she meant to him. Just to return even a fraction of what she was trying to say._

"_So I'm not afraid to die protecting you!"_

_Then she moved, in a pose that told him that she was preparing to use the famed Gentle Fist of the Hyuuga clan. The wind swept against her entire body, moving her hair in a way that seemed otherworldly that Naruto could only stare. _

_He wished he could see her face._

"_Because I… because I love you."_

Naruto could only recall that his mind stopped working after hearing those words. There was no response formed inside his head. All plans of even whispering to return a fraction of what Hinata was trying to say were gone. He thought that she was trying to convey how much he inspired him as a shinobi – as a comrade. But with all his failure of trying to see the obvious, a confession was the least he expected to hear.

He couldn't return a confession.

He couldn't even think after that incident. When he saw Hinata being harmed, all sense flew out of the window. He screamed himself hoarse trying to stop Pain from killing her. And after he thought that the invader might have ended her life, he came as closest as he could to destroying everything that he cared about. He almost unleashed the Kyuubi from inside of him.

He also couldn't lie to himself that he hadn't forgotten Hinata's confession. With the release of the most number of tails the Kyuubi could ever sprout, he had come face-to-face with the Fourth Hokage who turned out to be his father. The shock of learning this, as well as finding out about his past, made him forget about what happened beforehand. All that mattered was to learn as much as he can and put a stop to his rampage.

If someone could talk to Naruto now and listen to this tale, they would have said that his incontrollable anger and the way he reacted to Hinata's supposed death says a lot of how important she was to him. Even though he didn't respond to her confession in words, the extent of his rage was enough.

But of course, Naruto being Naruto, he couldn't figure that out quickly.

If only he heard Katsuyu that day…

"_It's Hinata… Hinata fell trying to protect him. And then Naruto…" _

"_So that was the trigger…" Shikamaru said._

To Naruto, up until Pain's invasion, it was clear who he would choose. Naruto would always adore Sakura. She was something permanent and right to him. She was his teammate. He knew her better than any other kunoichi in the village. In turn, he always thought that she knew him above anyone else.

It's true. Sakura knew Naruto in more ways than others, just as Sasuke knew parts of Naruto that others don't. It's also true that Hinata, being the silent watcher as she had always been, knew more to Naruto than anyone else too.

But he never had any time for those thoughts for months now. It was always the war that was front and center. Now, with the rebuilding of Konoha and the establishment of a new regime under Hatake Kakashi, everything should go back as close to normal as possible. He should have time to evaluate where he stood with Hinata because so far, that was the only uncertain thing left now.

And before he could even start evaluating things, she was about to go off on a mission which would take her to places unknown, dangers unseen, and time unpredicted.

He cursed for the umpteenth time in five hours. He wasn't used to moping around and doing nothing. But he couldn't very well do anything. It would seem that Hinata has already made up her mind. And he knew that Hinata was like him in that aspect. No one could deter her when she was already set.

If he were to be honest with himself, he didn't know how he felt for Hinata. It would be unfair to suddenly change feelings and see her in a romantic way just because she told him she loved him. Now that the dust has finally settled, Naruto understood why she frequently had fainting spells and why she would always blush and stammer at the sight of him. He was always confident of their relationship and how he could label it, but it's no longer the case. At the same time, he couldn't force himself to love her as someone more than a friend.

However, he couldn't rule out the possibility of eventually falling for her.

Naruto closed his eyes and tried to picture her for the hundredth time. Hyuuga Hinata was beautiful, he knew that. He always thought she was pretty, but she was always eclipsed by Sakura's feisty and fiery beauty. Hinata, now that he thought about it, was beautiful in a serene and soft way – an ethereal beauty that seemed to not to fade. Her kindness and gentleness only amplified that. She was always encouraging and out of all the shinobi in their batch, she was the only one who was remotely kind to him even before he became a genin. She seemed to believe in him even when they were still students in the Academy. Hell, she even let him copy off her test when he was having a particularly difficult time (which was often).

He sighed and an unwitting smile graced his lips. She was most beautiful when she cradled his face in her hand after slapping him out of his stupor. She looked at him in a way that made him think of the greatest and most wonderful paradox in life. She was gentle yet assertive. She was looking at him with both pain and love. She was looking at him with comfort yet she was reprimanding him. That was the time when Obito nearly convinced him to give up. She reminded him of something very important.

That his life wasn't just his anymore…

She treasured him and held him above anyone else.

Again, she sparked another fire within him. This time, it wasn't the six tails of the Kyuubi that she unleashed. It wasn't anger that sprung from within Naruto. This time, it was hope. It was the will to keep on fighting.

Another knock startled him from his turbulent thoughts.

A soft voice made his inner voice, and his heart, stop.

"Naruto-kun?"

* * *

Hinata closed her eyes.

She could feel her heart hammering against her ribs, making her knees go weak. She was afraid that she might fall against Naruto's door but this was no time to be a coward. After everything that she had gone through, it was a bit shameful that she was still a nervous wreck when trying to confront her feelings for Naruto.

It was true that she already overcame one of the biggest hurdles – confessing – when Pain invaded Konoha, but she knew that all the hard work of making herself worthy of Naruto's affections has just begun. She swore to herself that she would be hand-in-hand with him once the war ended. She had felt that warm and strong hand for a brief moment during the war, and she would always treasure that time. But the war was over.

There may be no more reasons for Naruto to hold her hand anymore.

She raised her hand to knock but she faltered.

_Why am I here? What do I have to say?_

Upon hearing from her teammates Kiba and Shino that Naruto was holed up in his room unwilling to speak to anyone, even to Sasuke and Sakura, Hinata became worried. Knowing the blonde-haired ninja, there was no way that he would pass up an opportunity to train with Sasuke, or even see his beloved Sakura. Even a surprise visit from Kiba and Shino (though their intentions were for Hinata's sake and not really a friendly visit) didn't move Naruto from his hiding place. Hinata didn't dare to use Byakugan to see what was going on inside his apartment for it would be a huge invasion of privacy. She blushed at the thought.

There was another reason why Hinata had come up to see Naruto. She wanted to know why he reacted the way he did when he found out that she was leaving with Tsunade-sama. Knowing the usual him, he should have been happy and encouraging that she was pursuing something. The blank stare and the deadpan voice did nothing to console Hinata. It shook her to her core.

It wasn't as if the leave was permanent. However, she couldn't lie to herself and give a small estimation. Even she didn't understand it very well.

She wanted to know what was bothering him.

Steeling herself, she finally knocked gently on Naruto's door.

"Naruto-kun?" she called out.

No answer.

She knocked again. "Naruto-kun?"

A few moments ticked by, but still no answer.

She inhaled deeply, her face falling to lines of sadness. "I know you're in there. I-I," she paused, stopping the onslaught of another fresh batch of stammers, "wanted to know if you're alright."

She knew that he could hear her and was choosing to ignore her, but still, she had to try.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," she said. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you that I was leaving earlier. The mission came as a surprise to me, too. As a shinobi, I have to do my duties."

Hinata clenched her fists, tears constricting her throat. She was sure that she would have preferred to face Naruto for this farewell but instead, she had a door to contend with.

"Don't worry, I'll bring back loads of stories and souvenirs for you," she said, taking on a lighter note. "I'm sure that whatever it is we encounter along the way, I'll grow stronger from it. Perhaps then…" she inhaled once more, "perhaps then, I'll be strong enough to be by your side."

She smiled, giving up all hope that she will ever see his smiling face before she left. "If I'm gone for a long time, I hope to see you become Hokage by then. Kakashi-sensei told me that he doesn't hope to hold the post for a long time. He said something about holding responsibilities and doing paperwork," Hinata laughed once more, finally appreciating the fact that she was speaking to a door. Maybe that was why she was talking for prolonged periods of time. "I hope you don't forget about me."

And for the last time, "I love you, Naruto-kun."

* * *

"I don't understand him at all!" Sakura screamed, tugging her hair in frustration. "_Why oh why _doesn't he just go and tell Hinata how he feels?! It's obvious that he likes her back. Maybe not love yet, but like _like_!"

"I mean does he need a coach or something so that he could figure things out by himself?" she added, kicking a rock as she walked. "Hinata's leaving and it's clear that she's hurt from all of this."

"How do you even know that?" Sasuke finally said, trying to lessen the strain on his ears.

"Well, as I told you, Hinata confessed to Naruto, right? During Pain's invasion, as Katsuyu-sama told me. She was there with Naruto, you see. But after the war," Sakura sighed, "it's like Naruto forgot about it altogether."

"There're a lot more to think about after the war than love confessions," Sasuke said, a bit irritated. "You can't expect the dobe to be an emotional genius all of a sudden."

Sakura laughed. "Well, I wouldn't expect _you _of all people to understand love."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "Really?"

Sakura heard the edge in his voice and backtracked. "Well, not love in general, but romantic love."

"Hn."

Sasuke could feel his head bursting from Sakura's tirade. She had been at it for almost an hour already. Ever since she had left Naruto's apartment, she had come to get him at the Uchiha compound to rant about her frustrations towards the blonde-haired idiot. He had to admit, she was surprised at the way she went about things.

"_SASUKE!" a yell pierced the peace in the always-silent Uchiha compound._

_Sasuke was disturbed from his meditation, silently cursing whoever it was who had the gall to make such a ruckus. Only one person had the nerve and it was Naruto, but from the tone of the voice, he was almost sure that it was a female._

_His answer swiftly came as a pink-haired figure leapt from the roof of a structure in the compound and landed neatly in front of him on the grass._

"_Come with me, I need to train," she said, her hands on her hips._

And here he was, expecting to train with Haruno Sakura. The anticipation of finally having a one-on-one match with his other teammate (because he only sparred with Naruto) removed all sense within him and made him agree without second thought. If he only knew that Sakura was fibbing and was actually just looking for someone to have a verbal spar with, he would have refused her.

_I would have wanted to test out Sakura's skills against mine, _he thought, mentally cursing his momentary lapse of judgment.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, looking at him for the first time since she asked him to spar. "Are you even listening to me?"

_From Sasuke to Sasuke-kun, huh? _"Hn," he answered.

Sakura frowned. "That's the problem with you guys. You never notice things unless it slaps you directly across the face."

Sasuke looked at her, eyebrows creased. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"That all guys are the same."

"Don't put me in the same league as the dobe," he spat. "Even I noticed that Hyuuga had a crush on him when we were younger."

Sakura blanched, almost stopping at her tracks. _SASUKE NOTICED?! _"W-What?!"

Sasuke sighed at Sakura's unmasked surprise. "I did."

Sakura suddenly giggled. "Why? Because she was the only girl who didn't fawn over you."

At this, Sasuke turned pink, but turned away just in time so that Sakura wouldn't see. "I don't look at it in such a trivial way."

"Of course," Sakura said with amusement. "Whatever you say, Sasuke-kun."

The sentence was said so playfully that Sasuke didn't even recognize the source of the words. Sakura has indeed changed since he had last interacted with her. She was definitely more confident and less nervous around him. For once, this was the most welcome change that he had encountered since coming back from Konoha. The fact that she pummeled the living daylights out of anyone she encountered during the battle greatly increased Sasuke's respect for her even more. She was no longer the helpless kunoichi that he often protected during missions.

He had finally seen her back when they fought.

Aware of the danger his line of thinking was leading to, Sasuke cleared his throat to distract himself. "So, are we going to train?"

Sakura's emerald eyes widened, momentarily forgetting the excuse she made up so that she could drag Sasuke out of his meditation. _Sasuke wants to train with me? Heh. _She grinned. "Yep. Here we are."

Thankfully, she had led them to the open space where they did the bell test for Kakashi-sensei. Out of nowhere, she sent the ground cracking and shaking from beneath Sasuke's feet, her fist plunging with ease.

Sasuke nearly lost his balance, but with his quick reflexes, was able to dodge the deadly blow.

"Heh," he said, "Not bad."

Sakura grimaced. "Of course. You can't hurt me."

"We'll see."

* * *

_Mount Myoboku._

The name itself held such prestige that Tsunade never thought she would live to see the day that she would be summoned there.

It was the day after the war that a mysterious messenger arrived to inform her that the Great Toad Sage wanted to meet her. She had an inkling that it had something to do with Jiraiya, but she never formed the question. She knew that she had to go, no matter what the reason.

"_Also, you have to bring Hyuuga Hinata with you," _the messenger added before he left.

_Hinata. What do they want with her?_

There was no question that the details of the summons were a bit blurry. The only thing that was sure that it was going to be a long journey and that they weren't allowed any type of faster transportation. They were going to the mountain the good old-fashioned way. No portals, no jutsu.

"_It will test if you are worthy."_

_You? _By all means, Tsunade knew that 'you' did not refer to her. It referred to Hinata.

"Are all preparations complete?" she asked Shizune, who had been piling up paperwork in preparation for Kakashi's arrival.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," the younger woman replied. Her face, from what her mentor could tell, was set in a grim line, no doubt wondering what indefinite travel it was that her shishou didn't bring her along. But Tsunade knew that above everyone else, Shizune would understand.

"Take care of things while I'm gone, okay?" the blonde kunoichi said, standing up. "You'll be Kakashi's assistant. I knew there would be no one better to guide him than you."

At this, Shizune blushed and merely coughed her discomfort. Tsunade smiled a knowing smile. _Perhaps this will get things moving._

"Don't dawdle, Shizune," Tsunade said, adding a wink.

"T-tsunade-sama!" Shizune spluttered.

"You're leaving tomorrow, Tsunade-sama?" a voice suddenly interrupted them, nearly knocking out Shizune in shock.

_Bad timing, Kakashi. _"Yes," Tsunade answered, hiding her amusement by turning her back towards the ninja who, again, deemed it better to pop out of the window than just go through the door.

"Start using the door, Kakashi-san!" Shizune admonished the man. "When you're Hokage, you have to – "

"Hai, hai," Kakashi said, opening another one of those perverted books. "But seeing as I'm not officially the Hokage yet…"

"Don't give Shizune too much headache, Kakashi," Tsunade said. "I expect her to be radiant and smiling when I return."

Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Shizune caught the jibe and wanted to disappear that instant, her face turning a bright shade of crimson.

"Look after Naruto," Tsunade said in finality, earning a nod from Kakashi. They all knew how much supervision he was going to need by the looks of things.

* * *

"I love you, Naruto-kun."

That was what he heard before he finally had the courage to bolt out his bed and run towards his door, opening it to find that she was already gone.

* * *

**For now… that's it…**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Departed

**I was re-reading the previous chapters and I have to apologize for the technical errors. My brain's been pouring out ideas so fast that I just had to write them down. And as usual, I don't re-read my chapters until after I posted them or just for the heck of it. Also, I don't have a beta.**

**Also for the reader who wondered why I chose Kakashi over Naruto as Hokage, we have to consider the fact that the hero doesn't always have the top rank from the very beginning. And it's not as if Kakashi did absolutely nothing so that he would never merit even the smallest consideration of becoming Hokage. He also fought with Obito and he fought alongside everyone else during the war, not wavering in his convictions. Even with Naruto's remarkable feats, he's still very young with a lot to learn. Even Minato, who was younger than the other Hokages by comparison, was still older than Naruto. He still has a lot to learn even with his strength. Aside from that, Kakashi won't keep the title to himself until he dies. If you read the manga, Kakashi isn't really the type to hog power all to himself. He even closely resents responsibility (hence, the bouts of laziness). Even Sarutobi Hiruzen, with all his strength, didn't embrace the title of Hokage until his deathbed and bequeathed it to Minato (though he had to after Minato's death, but still, he had the option to retire). **

**Thanks for the reviews, fav's, follows, etc. I won't force you guys to leave reviews like I always did back then. It's up to you.**

**Chapter 3**

The Departed

"For the last time, Hokage-sama, please sign these!" a frustrated Shizune nearly screamed. It had been a day since the reports of finished missions came, and Hatake Kakashi, Rokudaime Hokage, had yet to sign even a single one of them. If this continues, there will be another flood of work before the weekend and that meant that Shizune would have to put in more work days.

The dark-haired kunoichi could feel dizziness sweep over her. She was being overworked by Kakashi for more than two years now. She was sure that wrinkles were starting to appear all over her face and if Tsunade-sama could see her now, she was sure she was going to give the current Hokage a prompt beating.

And here she thought that Tsunade's habits were bad.

"Relax, Shizune-chan," Kakashi said, reading a scroll that was sent to him by Gaara, the Kazekage of Sunagakure. "I have plenty of time to attend to that."

"_No, you don't,_" she said with particular emphasis. "You have to attend a meeting with the Jounin Commander and the Interrogation Unit this afternoon. God knows how long that will take."

"Another meeting?" the copy-nin said, a frown marring his masked face. If you worked with Kakashi for two years and four months, you would know the subtle changes in his expression even though his face was half covered.

"That's because you re-scheduled this meeting," she explained with all the patience she could muster. "If only you actually pulled through with the original schedule, then you won't have to be compelled to do more than you should right now."

"Gomen," Kakashi said, scratching the back of his head. "I've been really preoccupied lately."

"You're always preoccupied."

"This is another thing entirely," he said, his tone taking a serious note to it.

Shizune stared at him. "What is it, Hokage-sama?"

"Tsunade-sama," he replied without hesitation. "She has stopped sending reports."

She blanched. Senju Tsunade, former Hokage, was on a mission for more than two years now. And every two weeks, she always sent a full-detailed report of what was going on. Only Kakashi knew what she and Hinata were up to but the Hokage had always assured Shizune of the general condition of her shishou.

"For how long?" she asked, worried.

"Two months," Kakashi responded. "I can't send any ANBU to check up on where they were last seen. That was Tsunade's last order before she passed the position to me."

"But how come you never told me right away? Naruto's been asking non-stop," Shizune said, her eyes taking a faraway look as she remembered how much Naruto has pestered her for information ever since the two kunoichi left.

"Naruto should know that he's not always entitled the answers that he asks for," Kakashi explained. "And I'm sure there's a good reason why Tsunade-sama failed to report. Let's just be patient and hope for the best."

Shizune nodded, though her palms were still clenched against her chest.

"Stop worrying Shizune-chan," Kakashi said, smiling up at her. "We could go out for lunch."

"G-go out?!" Shizune repeated, startled and unable to stop the blush from creeping up her face.

"Hai," Kakashi said, not knowing what effect his words had on his assistant. He stood up and strode towards Shizune's nervous form. "I'll get to the paperwork after the meeting."

"I-I think you should stop stalling and start doing it now!" Shizune said, cursing herself from the obvious weakness in her voice. _This man will be the death of me! _"I'll just send up lunch for you here."

"But that's boring!" Kakashi whined. "I really am not in the mood to sign anything as of now."

"The Hokage doesn't let mood swings dictate how and when he should go about his responsibilities!" she chided.

"Fine," he finally conceded, going back behind his desk and sitting down. "As long as you also bring your lunch up here and eat with me. It's boring without anyone to talk to."

Shizune smiled. "Hai, hai, Kakashi-sama."

* * *

Naruto has barely touched the miso ramen he ordered at Ichiraku's. Teuchi and Ayame had been giving him repetitive looks from time to time, mentally noting that the blonde had not even taken a sip of the tempting broth for about twenty minutes now.

"You had better eat, Naruto," Teuchi said, smiling. "The broth is getting cold. You wouldn't want that."

Naruto's eyes rapidly connected with the old man's and grinned. But the old man knew better that the smile was rather strained. "I was just thinking about some stuff."

"Clearly," Sasuke said from beside him. Naruto had forced Sasuke to come with him to Ichiraku's. The black-haired boy already finished his bowl of ramen and was seriously considering ordering a second, when he fell into the owners' habit of observing Naruto. Recently, the blonde dobe hadn't been himself. It was as if he was worried senseless.

"What's going on, Naruto?" he asked, finally making up his mind and deciding to order another bowl.

"Tsunade-baa-chan hasn't sent a report for about two months now," the blonde confessed, running his hands through his hair. "Something must have happened."

"Sometimes shinobi fail to report when they're caught up in something important," Sasuke explained. "Doesn't mean that it's something bad."

Naruto stared at his friend hard. It was unlike Sasuke to try to comfort him in some way. He had to admit that he was losing it from that time when Shizune and Kakashi-sensei stopped giving him updates on Tsunade and Hinata's condition. From what he could discern, it was Tsunade-baa-chan who always sent in reports. Hinata didn't write them personally. He had to take the former Hokage's word that Hinata was in good condition.

But other than that, he knew absolutely nothing.

And it turned into the worst possible situation now. From little word from them, it turned to absolutely no word from the two kunoichi.

"It's not like Tsunade-baa-chan to miss anything," Naruto said.

Sasuke scoffed. "It _is _like her to forget something."

"So you mean she's gambling, getting drunk or having too much fun for _two months?!_"

At this, Sasuke sighed. He really didn't know how to reason with Naruto. "If you're so bothered, why don't you go after them?"

Wrong suggestion. "You know what, maybe I will," Naruto said, standing up without even finishing his bowl.

"You know Kakashi won't permit you."

"Who says that he has to permit me?"

Sasuke closed his eyes in frustration. "Because he's Hokage, you numbskull. Disobeying a top-priority order would mean removal from duties."

Naruto smirked. "Didn't stop you."

"Well, that was an entirely different thing," Sasuke said. Yet, it seemed to the former nuke-nin that it was a bit similar. It seemed that even though the dobe doesn't admit or even realize yet, but he may have developed some odd feelings for Hyuuga Hinata.

"You're right," the other ninja conceded. "I'm not an _avenger._" With that, he laughed.

"Shut up," Sasuke said, glaring at him.

"And since you're still here even with the very evil intentions you had for leaving the village, I doubt Kakashi-sensei would remove me from being a shinobi just for making sure a comrade's alright," Naruto said, leaving money for his ramen and walking out of the shop. "Besides, he won't punish the hero of Konoha."

"Heh," Sasuke replied, fighting the urge to pummel Naruto. "You're just as arrogant as ever."

"Not unlike you," Naruto threw back.

"Shanaroo!" a yell suddenly pierced the relatively peaceful air. Naruto blanched and thankfully dodged just in time. Sakura came out of nowhere and sent an enormous kick at where he stood, leaving the ground destroyed.

"What the hell!" Naruto roared. It seemed that Sasuke was just as fortunate as he was and was able to dodge the move in time. Thanks to the Sharingan.

"TEME!" he added. "Why didn't you tell me that Sakura-chan was trying to kill me?!"

"I'm not your keeper," Sasuke replied shortly, turning away.

"What are you planning to do, Naruto?!" Sakura screamed, effectively removing all potential eavesdroppers from the passersby, fearing for their civilian lives.

"Following Hinata," he answered.

The lack of fear and reluctance in the answer rattled Sakura. Naruto would usually falter whenever she confronted him with stuff. But now, it seemed that he was intent on doing this. "You know you can't," she said, sighing deeply. "It's Tsunade-sama's final order. And it's also been made top priority by Kakashi-sensei."

"And _why?" _Naruto asked, his bubbling frustration that was kept at bay for years finally reaching the surface. "I _want _to know what's going on!"

"It's your fault you didn't talk to Hinata properly," Sakura said, knowing where all of this is coming from. "If only you just talked to her, then you wouldn't be lashing out like you haven't had closure or something."

Sasuke had to agree, although he didn't say anything. He'd rather be anywhere than here. He really didn't want to discuss feelings and the overcomplicated relationships of his fellow shinobi. Besides, Sakura could handle such things.

Naruto stayed silent, his head bowed and his eyes covered by the fringes of his hair.

"If only you tried to understand, even though you didn't know anything," Sakura continued, knowing that she finally got through after two years. "Hinata would never leave unless she had to. You know that. She won't leave you, most of all. She loves you."

"I know that!" Naruto suddenly said, startling both Sasuke and Sakura. "I just…"

"Just what, dobe?" Sasuke finally joined in the fray. "You didn't get the chance to tell her that you loved her too?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke, wide-eyed. "I-I don't love her! Not in that way!"

"Really, Naruto?" Sakura said, getting annoyed.

"As of now, no," Naruto said. "That much I'm sure."

Sakura stopped his eyes from actually rolling. "Then why are you like this? Have patience!"

"I feel like something bad is going to happen," he finally admitted. "I've been having dreams. I don't even know if they're dreams. They all seem so real."

"Visions?" Sakura asked, anxious. "You should have told us sooner! You should have told Kakashi-sensei."

"Visions are impossible to have," Sasuke said, his face set. "You haven't shown any indication of having the ability before."

"But it doesn't say that it's impossible to have them forever if you haven't displayed earlier signs," Sakura said. "It must be a link of some sort."

"A link?" Naruto repeated.

Sakura nodded. "What have you been seeing?"

Naruto inhaled sharply. "A bijuu."

"A _bijuu?!" _Sakura and Sasuke said in unison.

"But all the bijuu aside from the eight and nine-tails were destroyed along with the tree," Sakura said. "The three of us did it ourselves."

"I know," Naruto said, frustration creeping in again. "But it seems that the bijuu was after Hinata."

"Even so, Naruto, the bijuu are no longer evil entities," Sakura said. "You said so yourself. You talked to them."

"I know," he said again. "I'm not sure if its intentions are good or bad, but it's there. And it wants Hinata."

The two other members of Team 7 were silent. They were carefully trying to take in the information when Naruto finally said, "That's why I'm trying to come after them. That's why I want to know what's going on. It's always the same dream for years now."

Sakura gave a subtle nod of understanding. "What else did you see?"

"Twins."

"Twins?" Sasuke said.

"Yes," Naruto confirmed. "Two kids – a girl and a boy. They were about nine or ten, I think. And they were destroying Konoha."

* * *

"You have to survive this Hinata," Tsunade said urgently, unable to take her eyes away from the amount of blood gushing out of the Hyuuga's mouth. It seemed that every inch of Hinata's body was spouting out her blood. The extent of the damage was too great.

"Are you sure we should go on with this?!" Gamakichi said, alarmed. From the many things he had seen during battle, this was one of those moments that left him shaken.

"If she were what is foretold, she should survive this," the toad sage said. "If not, then there will be chaos."

"It was left to us to seal the beasts and we have accomplished sealing six so far," Gamatatsu said. "Why is it so difficult to seal this one? I'm getting hungry!"

"Stop being so noisy, Gamatatsu," Gamabunta said. "It's hard because of what Hyuuga-san was destined for. And besides, her body is resisting this. She originally doesn't have big chakra reservoirs and monstrous potentials like the other jinchuuriki."

"Then _why her?" _Gamakichi said again, flinching as Hinata let out a scream. "It's been a year already! All the training from the previous year didn't prepare her for this? And now, after a year of being a jinchuuriki, she still hasn't gained control over the bijuu!"

"The bijuu must be giving her a hard time," Gamakichi said.

"It's not like that," the Ogama Sennin explained. "The bijuu are changed after the war."

"Ojiji-sama, was it because of Naruto?" Gamabunta asked.

"Yes," the old toad replied. "_Hinata Hyuuga _is the young woman whom my prophecy referred to. This time, it's as clear as night and day."

"_The woman who will bear the most powerful children of the world_," Tsunade breathed, trying to heal Hinata's wounds. "The reason you have brought me here along with helping to seal the bijuu is to re-heal Hinata's wounds, only to be opened and torn many times over."

From her expression and tone, it was clear that Tsunade was disgusted by the task. But she followed through, healing Hinata even though she was writhing and bleeding profusely.

"_The woman who can bring forth the ultimate change the world is searching for," _Gamakichi added. Because of this, Ogama-Sennin repeated the prophecy that he had told two years ago, for the benefit of those who do not understand in their group.

"_The woman who will bear the most powerful children of the world,_

_The woman who can bring forth the ultimate change the world is searching for,_

_The woman with the ability to form and break bonds,_

_The woman who will be the last container of one of the great beasts,_

_The woman who will be the both the wife and the mother of Hokages."_

The old sage finished, his eyes roving around his descendants, the former Hokage, and the new jinchuuriki.

"But it's been two years. A year of training then a year after sealing Isobu," Gamakichi said, his doubts still consuming him. "She still hasn't improved. In fact, she has gotten worse over the past two months."

"I haven't made a mistake," the powerful toad said once more. "I haven't made such a clear-cut prophecy in my entire lifetime. We have confused the Child of the Prophecy so many times, only to believe that it might refer to more than one child. But now, there is no mistaking it, there is only one woman."

"And how can you tell, Ojiji-sama?" Gamatatsu asked.

"For all we know, it could have been Sakura," Gamakichi said. "From what we know, this woman will be the wife of a Hokage. We all know that Naruto's a sure shot at that title, meaning that this woman will be Naruto's wife. Naruto loves Sakura."

"And it makes more sense since her chakra control and her capabilities are better than Hyuuga Hinata," Gamakichi added.

Gamabunta glared at his son. "You have always not permitted other possibilities. Such is your limitation – the limitations of your youth."

"What?" Gamakichi said, confused.

"Hinata has always loved Naruto," Tsunade interrupted. "She has always tried her best and stood by him. Sakura is the same, but she has always loved Uchiha Sasuke, not Naruto."

"And so? Just because she loves her doesn't make her the woman in the prophecy," the young toad contradicted once more.

Gamabunta landed a punch on his son's head, effectively silencing his son. "Naruto has started to care for this girl. Ojiji-sama said it so himself. The departure caused a connection. The boy has been having visions of her."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade said, looking up.

"There's a reason as to why I have instructed you to stop sending messages to Konoha, Tsunade," the toad sage explained. "It is to finally strengthen the link between Naruto and Hinata. Naruto's visions of Hinata and the children of the future are becoming stronger. At this rate, it seems highly likely that he would come searching for her."

"And what if he finds out about this prophecy?" Tsunade asked. "You can't very well expect anyone to understand that they're destined to marry someone _then _have children so strong that they can potentially destroy the world."

"Then that might be the push they need. You underestimate the boy, Tsunade. What the future holds is very unclear even to us who are given the gift of seeing. Much of the future of the children depends on how these two young ones will raise them."

Tsunade, for all the time that she spent at Mt. Myoboku was still confused to everything that was going on. There was no clarity to the prophecy and the involvement of Naruto and Hinata. All that he was certain about was that Hinata was the woman who will be pregnant with children that can change the world in the future. It was also apparent that these children will become Hokage in the future, having the power to do incredible things. It's also very sure and very true right now that Hinata was the jinchuuriki of the three-tails, Isobu, and that her body wasn't taking it well. It's also part of the prophecy that she will be the wife of a Hokage. Eliminating Kakashi because of the sheer improbability of the set-up, then that would mean that Hinata would be married to the 7th Hokage of Konoha.

And Tsunade knew too well who the elders were considering as Kakashi's successor.

There were many candidates for the position because of the sheer talent of the succeeding generation. Nara Shikamaru belonged to the group, being a very intelligent and driven shinobi. Even Uchiha Sasuke, with all the red marks in his ledger, is considered a potential candidate for the position. But for all the work he has done for the village and the indomitable Will of the Fire that he had, Uzumaki Naruto was a shoe-in for the title.

What wasn't clear was how Hinata was chosen. Aside from the fact that she shared a unique bond with Naruto. Even the other toads knew that she wasn't suited to be a jinchuuriki. People who housed a bijuu have specific qualities to them that made them viable hosts. Even with the apparent 'gentleness' of Isobu, Hinata was rendered incapacitated for a year already, having bouts of fever, bleeding, sweating, and near-death experiences.

Tsunade could barely find the time to rest. It had been crystal clear what the sage's intentions were in bringing her along with Hinata. She was the only kunoichi, aside from Haruno Sakura, with the capability to sustain Hinata's life as much as she can. Of course, Sakura could not be sent to such a delicate and secretive mission. Tsunade's experience merited her the gruesome task of keeping Hinata alive.

"If Hinata dies, Isobu will die with her," Gamabunta said. "And when Isobu dies with her, there will be great imbalance between all jinchuuriki and bijuu. That was why Isobu had been revived even though he died along with Nohara Rin."

"What else will happen?" Gamakichi said, fearing the worst.

"The connection that's already established between Naruto and her will break," the older toad answered. "This will render Naruto's mind unstable."

"Unstable?"

"It means he will go mad. Kurama will channel that negative energy and turn insane himself, reverting back to a rampaging monster. If he does, he will send ripples in the bijuu world, triggering the monstrous sides of the remaining bijuu once more. This will lead their jinchuuriki to have the hard life once again – maybe even harder," the old sage supplied. "The bijuu will rampage and will take it upon themselves to control their masters. They will form the ten-tails themselves, without the aide of anyone."

"How's that possible when Isobu will have died with Hinata?" Gamakichi asked.

"You forget that Isobu and any bijuu can come back from the dead," Gamabunta said, his face grim.

"Through Hinata's death, the world will indeed be changed for the _worse_," Tsunade said, comprehension dawning. "Without the accomplishment of marrying a Hokage and producing the powerful heirs, Hinata's death will draw out the worst in Naruto, and in effect, the other jinchuuriki and bijuu."

"Then she _has _to live!" Gamatatsu squeaked in fear. "But she's – "

"She is strong," the sage said. "That is also one of the reasons that she was chosen. Even with a body that does not meet the requirements of being a jinchuuriki, she has fought on. And even though her body is giving in, her will makes her survive all of the trials. She is indeed like Naruto in every way."

Tsunade smiled softly. It was indeed true. Hinata has kept up the fight for a year. There was no way that this was going to end now.

But all of a sudden, Hyuuga Hinata stopped breathing.

* * *

Naruto suddenly collapsed, his hand clutched against his head.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed, barely having the time to catch Naruto. Fortunately, Sasuke did.

"What happened?" Sasuke said.

"We have to take Naruto to the hospital," Sakura said after assessing the situation. "Naruto is in pain and I don't know why until I've made a complete diagnosis."

Sasuke mentally cursed, carrying Naruto and running with Sakura towards the hospital. Naruto was groaning and sweating profusely, his teeth gritted with pain. They were doing nothing besides talk about what Naruto's plan of action was. They were only standing under the tree in the place where they fought with Kakashi before when Naruto suddenly stopped speaking and collapsed.

"I don't understand," Sakura was saying as they went through the doors of the hospital and wheeled Naruto in to the emergency room. "His vitals seem okay, but his head. It seems that the pain came from the head."

"No migraine is this bad, Sakura," Sasuke said as he watched Sakura and two nurses hover over Naruto, trying to assess the situation before them or any damage that was going on.

"If only Tsunade-sama were here," Sakura said, and it just wasn't because she was missing her shishou badly. If there was anyone who can identify an unknown case, it was the former Hokage.

"You're not Tsunade's disciple for nothing, Sakura," Sasuke spoke up, surprising Sakura. "You can do this."

Sakura, for all the urgency of the situation, couldn't help but blush. It was unlike Sasuke to try to elevate her spirits by complimenting her, but then again, he did the same thing during the chuunin exams when he identified her as the best genjutsu identifier from their team.

"MAKE IT STOP!" Naruto yelled out of the blue, thrashing around and effectively dislodging the grip the two nurses had of him. This made Sakura use her strength to pin him down, signalling Sasuke to do the same.

Naruto yelled once more, a sound that shook both Sasuke and Sakura. They had never seen Naruto like this and it alarmed them more that they couldn't see the source of his distress. It seemed like he was losing control once more as Sasuke could see Kurama's chakra cloaking him in a subtle way that only his Sharingan could detect.

"Sakura, the kyuubi's chakra is spilling," Sasuke said, deeming it better to inform Sakura. "He hasn't lost control of him ever since the war. What's going on?"

"I-I don't know," Sakura said, trying to think. "I can't pump in more chakra to try to heal something that I don't even understand. I have to identify – "

"HINATA!"

* * *

White eyes opened, clashing with amber ones.

"Tsunade-sama?" Hinata croaked. She heard him. She heard his voice. _Naruto-kun... he's calling out to me._

"Hinata!" Tsunade said, eyes red from tears that she had just shed. "You're alright!"

"Y-yes," Hinata said, feeling every inch of her body protesting as she struggled to get up. "I heard Naruto-kun. Inside of me... my mind..."

Tsunade sighed. The link. "I'll explain later, Hinata. Right now, you have to rest."

Hinata nodded, still disoriented. She hadn't been fully awake for more than a year now. It was unusual to be aware of her surroundings as she had been before. But now she knows that something's different.

_Isobu. Three-tails. Jinchuuriki._

"You're finally awake," the old toad said, smiling.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble," Hinata said, smiling weakly back.

"Now it's time to summon him."

* * *

**Now the mystery… **


	4. Chapter 4 - Stolen Property

**Thanks for reading this story. I hope you find it more and more interesting as I go along.**

**As for 'Guest', my answer as to why they put Isobu in Hinata is because I said so. Lol. It's part of the thing I call as plot and if I remove it, then it would ruin the entire purpose of my fan fic. We haven't gotten to the part where the others find out about it and react so we don't know yet if it's all going to be fine with them.**

**And for the toads' conversation, it's a simple parallelism between Hinata and Sakura. It doesn't say that Sakura is **_**stronger **_**than Hinata. We should give Sakura a little more credit for having actually trained under a sannin and also getting compliments of actually having the potential of surpassing Tsunade. I am not dissing the entirety of the Hyuuga clan by saying that they lack potential, but in my fan fic (since I have creative license), even though Hinata is strong, it seemed that her body is resisting the bijuu because it's not used to (ehem, **_**not used to, **_**meaning it doesn't mean that it's not EVER seen the potential of having that much power) that amount of chakra stored up within her. And she did manage to survive, right? **

**Enough about that. Moving on… *grins***

**Chapter 4**

Stolen Property

Shima and Fukasaku hopped along the gardens of Mt. Myoboku, engaged in a heated argument about the current situation that was facing them. It was clear that any day from now, Uzumaki Naruto would be summoned to the mount, about to face another monstrous fate that was cast on his shoulders. But they knew that this time, he wouldn't bear the burden alone. Also, the chief responsibility of carrying the burden now lay in the hands of an 18-year-old young woman.

"Shima-sama, Fukasaku-sama," a gentle voice said from behind them.

The elderly couple almost jumped in surprise. Behind them, in her kunoichi garb of a darker shade of purple than what she used to wear, was Hyuuga Hinata.

Shima's eyes softened. Admittedly, she and her husband have developed a soft spot for the Hyuuga heiress. The toads of Mt. Myoboku rarely showed their respect to anyone and like always, it took a bit of a while before they warmed up to Hinata. But the girl was a natural in softening people's hearts, always spoke respectfully towards all the residents of this place, whether or not they are of low or high stature in their community.

_This girl will really make Naruto a changed man, _Fukasaku thought, his worn out face breaking into a grin. He felt almost sorry at the violent bruises that appeared on the pale girls' skin – on her neck and on the sides of her face. He knew that there was more hidden behind the confining clothes that she so often wore, evidence of the turbulent times she faced while trying to contain the three-tails.

"It's really a wearisome task to be assigned to handle all these bijuu," Fukasaku said out of nowhere. "We all had to find the suitable people for each bijuu. It's not an easy task."

Hinata said nothing and looked away. It wasn't an easy task indeed, but it was a task she gladly accepted. Back in the days of the First Hokage, it was already agreed that the village heads would split the power of the bijuu among them, containing each creature within the bodies of able shinobi. Konohagakure always played host to the Kyuubi, or Kurama as Naruto called him, with hosts such as the First Hokage's wife, Uzumaki Mito, and Naruto's own mother, Uzumaki Kushina.

Other than that, the other beasts lay in the protection of the other villages. Nohara Rin became Isobu's jinchuuriki herself, but was killed in action, by Hatake Kakashi. But this particular bijuu belonged once to Kirigakure, with the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, being its jinchuuriki. After Rin's death and the along with her the presumed death of the tailed beast itself, it was unknown that it roamed the wild freely for some time, before captured by Akatsuki.

"We all didn't anticipate that the bijuu will resurrect after the ten-tails was destroyed," Shima mused, mistaking Hinata's silence for sadness. "Don't worry, dear, jinchuuriki now have an easier life. The bijuu are kinder and more cooperative, thanks to Killer Bee and Naruto."

Hinata smiled softly. "It's alright, Shima-sama. I live to serve my village in any way I can."

The female toad sighed. It was known amongst the toads and even to Tsunade that Hinata never heard the entire prophecy. Ogama-sennin often said that it wasn't time to tell her everything, although Shima and Fukasaku objected fiercely. Even Gamabunta was on their side. It was unfair that all she knew was that she was destined to become the jinchuuriki of the three-tailed beast, Isobu. But even with the severe lack of information, Hyuuga Hinata gladly took up the mantle of being one.

Shima sighed. Hinata never asked a single question. She never asked why she was chosen. She never even wanted to know how this all came to be. She never wondered how the toads had possession of all the bijuu sealed within the ten-tails at the time of the war in the first place. They knew that she knew, at the very least, that Isobu was the only remaining bijuu unsealed after the war. She never questioned who the other jinchuuriki were and how the toads found methods of sealing the beasts within their new hosts. When Ogama-sennin explained to her that her decision would greatly impact the future of the shinobi world, she took up the heavy burden without hesitation.

The couple knew that Hinata had a deep understanding of what was to come by being a jinchuuriki. But out of all the hosts that held any of the beasts, hers was by far the strangest process of them all. It had been a grueling two years for her. She was trained by Senji Tsunade and Gamabunta to prepare every aspect of her being to the strains of being a jinchuuriki. She was stretched to her limits every single day but she never wavered. When the time came for Isobu to be sealed, she faced the challenge without any fear, saying words that Shima never forgot.

"_Do not worry, Shima-sama. This pain is nothing compared to Naruto-kun's."_

To this, Shima couldn't disagree more. Even though the bijuu were mellower than before, the torment that Hinata experienced in the year that followed in trying to restrain Isobu was unlike anything any jinchuuriki ever experienced before. It was as if her body, even with all its training, continuously rejected being a host. It was as if there was something inside of her that was preventing her from fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. This kept even Ogama-sennin himself on his toes, trying to wrap his senile mind around this odd turn of events.

But she prevailed when no one else expected her to. Even Tsunade wanted to stop the entire torture. Every time they thought she would draw her dying breath, she would come back stronger, calling out a name that haunted them along with her screams of pain – _Naruto._

"Everything should be better now," Shima assured her, mistaking Hinata's silence for sadness. "I'm sure you'll get used to it all."

Hinata smiled at the female toad. "I should be considered luckier then, Shima-sama."

"Why is that?" Fukasaku interjected, frowning at Hinata slightly.

"Even with all the pain I endured, it's nothing compared to the years of torment and ridicule Naruto-kun experienced being the Kyuubi's container," she explained gently, looking up at the bright sky. "When I come back to Konoha, I might be even considered as a hero from what Tsunade-sama told me. I don't want that."

The couple remained silent, taking in her words that held no joy in them at all.

"And even until now, Naruto-kun keeps on saving me."

"In what way, Hinata-chan?" Shima asked gently.

"Without him, the bijuu and their jinchuuriki would never attain peace with each other. They would never have had reached a mutual understanding," Hinata said. "I have already talked to Isobu-san. He is a lot like me in many ways."

"Y-you already managed to reach into your bijuu?!" Fukasaku said in awe.

"H-hai," Hinata said shyly. "Isobu-san is reserved and would prefer to live a peaceful life if given a choice. We want pretty much the same things. He apologized for hurting me, though I told him that none of this was his fault and that the blame should be on my weak body."

"Don't say that," Shima said, comforting the lavender-eyed heiress. "Yours was a very strange incident indeed, but it couldn't be helped. At the very least, you have to rest and recover. You need your strength so that you can continue training when the time is ripe."

"Excuse me," Gamakichi said, appearing out of the bushes and landing in front of the three. "Ogama-sennin wants to see the three of you. He wants to speak to Hinata-san."

"Alright," Fukasaku said.

With that, the three of them followed Gamakichi, who was strangely not in a conversational mood.

"What's wrong, Gamakichi-kun?" Hinata asked in concern, surprising the young toad.

"Nothing to worry about," Gamakichi replied.

"Okay then," she said, knowing that what Gamakichi said wasn't entirely true at all. As they finally entered the hall, Hinata's eyes widened in surprise as she saw who it was that waited for them.

Before her stood Hatake Kakashi, looking almost the same as he always did two years ago. The Rokudaime Hokage hadn't changed into anything that would make you instantly recognize him as the head of Konohagakure. He was standing like his usual laid-back self, his eyes crinkled in what Hinata could say was a smile.

Her eyes fell upon the Hokage's silent companion. It was Uchiha Sasuke. Hinata was speechless, wondering why, of all people, Sasuke would be here with Kakashi. He was observing her stoically, as if he had always seen her prior to this day.

Behind the two of them, apparently catching up to her old master, was Haruno Sakura. Her pink hair now reached past her shoulders and she looked as beautiful as Hinata remembered her. However, she wore a very serious expression as it seems that Tsunade was trying to bring her up to scratch about what was going on.

The three's presence can only mean one thing to Hinata. All of the years away and all of the things she had done never prepared her to see him again. She knew that this wasn't an appropriate time to worry about how she looked, but he always brought out the little girl inside of her. She knew that she looked like a complete mess after the messy affair that she had been in for the past two years.

And indeed, there he was, talking to Gamabunta. He was wearing that red cloak that he wore during his battle with Pain, much to her chagrin. It reminded her of that confession left in the open years ago. She felt color flood her cheeks.

She heard a distant sound of a chuckle.

"She's a cute girl," a voice that could only belong to Shima said, filled with amusement.

At this, the toad sage turned towards Hinata. "Ah, Hyuuga Hinata," he said in his worn out tone.

Lavender eyes collided with ocean blue.

"Hinata-chan…"

* * *

"Kakashi, what is going on?" Sasuke demanded, facing the Hokage squarely.

Shizune nearly fell over at the glaring insubordination of the Uchiha. "Sasuke-san! Please address the Hokage formally!"

Kakashi chuckled. "Don't worry, Shizune-chan. I'm used to my cute student's antics."

Sasuke suppressed the urge to send a Chidori through his former mentor's chest. "Sakura sent me here to ask you," he said through gritted teeth. "Naruto just collapsed, screaming in pain like I never heard him before. He's having unusual visions of a bijuu after Hinata, and he kept on telling us that she's in danger."

"Whew," Kakashi said. "That's the most number of words I've heard you say since you got back, Sasuke."

"I am _not _kidding, Kakashi."

"It's good timing that you asked, actually," the silver-haired man said. "The toad sage told me that now is the time."

"The toad sage?" Sasuke and Shizune said in unison.

Kakashi nodded. "As you must now realize, Tsunade-sama and Hinata are not on an ordinary errand. It's been two years since they left and they did so for one very crucial mission. It was to make Hinata a jinchuuriki."

"Nani?!" Sasuke exclaimed, eyes wide. "How can that happen when all of the bijuu aside from the Kyuubi and Hachibi are gone?!"

"Not quite gone. They've been resurrected after you three dismantled the ten-tails," Kakashi explained. "Gamakichi and Katsuyu were the ones to discover this."

"Then how come Sakura doesn't know about this?" Shizune asked.

"It's because Katsuyu opted to inform Tsunade rather than Sakura," Kakashi replied. "Ever since, the toads of Mt. Myoboku took care of sealing the remaining bijuu into a new host. So far, they have successfully sealed six of them. Gaara-kun accepted the burden of being the jinchuuriki of Shukaku once again. As for the others, their locations and persons are for my eyes only."

"Then why was Hinata chosen?" Sasuke added.

"That, I don't know the full details yet," Kakashi admitted. "All that I know so far is that there is a new prophecy from the old toad sage from Mt. Myoboku. This involved Hinata and it seemed that it's about her selection as the jinchuuriki of the remaining bijuu."

Sasuke and Shizune said nothing, the weight of the news still sinking in.

"But if Naruto's vision was true, then it means that the three-tailed beast could be a danger to her," Shizune said after minutes of silence.

"That's unlikely," Kakashi said almost at once. "As far as I know, the old sage assured me that there was nothing bad that was going to happen to Hinata. And the bijuu are now more peaceful than they were before."

"But Naruto won't be happy when he finds out that Hinata is turned to a jinchuuriki," Sasuke said.

"I know," their sensei said, shaking his head. "But he has to understand. Hinata chose this, that much Tsunade-sama told me in her reports. Be patient, Sasuke, and let the sage inform Naruto of all of these. We shall be paying a visit to them soon."

"We?" Sasuke repeated, astonished.

"Yes," Kakashi said enthusiastically. "This will be the first S-ranked mission in years for Team 7. Inform Sakura and Naruto immediately once they're out of the hospital."

Sasuke sighed and left.

"I'll put you in charge while I'm on this official business, Shizune," Kakashi said, standing up and looking outside the window. "Have Shikamaru assist you while I'm away."

Shizune nodded. "How long will you be away?"

"From what Gamakichi told me, about a week," Kakashi responded. "We'll be summoned there by the portal that the toads use when getting to Konoha, but going back we have to use the old way."

"When are you going to leave, sir?" Shizune asked once more.

"As soon as possible."

A street away from the Hokage office, musing silently to himself was Sasuke. He was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Hyuuga Hinata has been made into a jinchuuriki. He was sure that it would be easier on her, from what Kakashi said, but Naruto's reaction was another thing entirely. His former teammate would not take the news so lightly after all the hardships he himself had gone through being the host of a tailed beast. From the level of concern Naruto had for Hinata, he would also be pissed beyond recognition that she was the one they chose.

There were also a number of questions that circled around his head.

He knew for a fact that whenever the toads of Mt. Myoboku were involved, it concerned the great old toad sage. He recalled that this particular being was capable of making prophecies of great accuracy, and that Naruto himself was once a subject of his foretelling. Naruto was dubbed as the 'Child of the Prophecy' and it had come true during the Fourth Shinobi War.

It could only be concluded that Hinata might be subject to another one of those prophecies if she was specifically called out to Mt. Myoboku, along with Tsunade. But Sasuke also thought about the other bijuu and the hosts in which they were sealed in. _So does this mean that they were also selected by a prophecy of some sorts?_

Sasuke's frown deepened. There was also the issue of Naruto's visions and how Kakashi assured him that they were not entirely accurate. The Hokage implied that they should trust the toad sage that no harm will befall Hinata but it was in Sasuke's nature to be suspicious. There was indeed a great part of the grand scheme of things that even Kakashi himself doesn't know. And for this mission to be S-ranked, he was sure that the only place they were going to get their answers was at Mt. Myoboku.

And now he was left with the troublesome task of trying to explain to his two teammates that they were going on a mission to escort a jinchuuriki back to Konoha. But then again, Kakashi told him that Naruto should be left in the dark about this mission until the toad sage himself explained to him.

But Sasuke felt that Naruto needed to know even just a little bit of it all. Plus, he wasn't one to follow Kakashi's orders anyway.

All his thoughts blinded him to the fact that his feet had carried him to the hospital, right at Naruto's door. He expelled an exasperated breath and went in.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said in acknowledgment, hovering over a displeased Naruto. "Please tell Naruto that he has to rest until this afternoon before he can be released."

"So you're getting out earlier than expected?" Sasuke asked, ignoring Sakura's request and leaving the pink-haired kunoichi to glare at him.

"Yep," Naruto replied, almost himself again.

"That's good. That means I have to tell Kakashi immediately."

"Tell him what?"

"That we're now ready for the mission."

Sakura sat down on the edge of Naruto's bed. "A mission?"

"Yes," Sasuke replied. "I just came from his office. It's going to be an S-ranked mission and Kakashi's coming with us."

"E-eh?!" Naruto and Sakura said at once.

"It means this is very important," Sasuke said in frustration.

"We _know,_ teme," Naruto shot back. "What's the mission?"

Without a pause, Sasuke said, "To bring back Hinata."

"W-what?" the blonde-haired shinobi said, his cerulean eyes wide with surprise.

"Why should you wonder? Haven't you been complaining that you should be allowed to go after Hinata for more than two years now?" Sasuke said, his onyx eyes piercing Naruto. "Anyway, I don't know any more than that. We're going to find out once we get there and Kakashi said that we'll leave as soon as Naruto gets out of the hospital."

Sasuke noticed Sakura's deep frown, knowing that his more perceptive teammate already had her own mind running in different directions. Her emerald eyes were narrowed, almost suspicious. Sasuke gave her an imperceptible nod, silently promising her that she would give her the details later. At this, the kunoichi smiled softly, noting how much Sasuke had really changed over the years.

Naruto however, was too preoccupied in his own worries to notice the silent exchange between the two. _I'm finally getting her back. _

He couldn't help but feel that chill in the pit of his stomach. Why would Kakashi assign this as an S-ranked mission? Did something happen to Hinata and Tsunade? Why would Kakashi himself go along with them? Is this going to concern talks with other shinobi nations or would this mission be too difficult for even three jounin, considered to be the new Legendary Sannin, to accomplish?

Last night, he had stopped having visions of Hinata. He was frustrated as hell because even in his dreams, he at least had the assurance that Hinata was there, even in the darkest recesses of his mind. Having absolutely no reports or even dreams of her made him very uneasy. And now, a sudden mission sprung up in front of them.

But he didn't have the luxury to complain. At last, he was given the opportunity to find out exactly what was going on with his friend. And he was going to get her back.

* * *

"Hinata is finally coming home," Hiashi informed Hanabi, who was drinking her tea slowly.

A small fraction of well-disguised surprise marred the features of the girl.

"Hokage-sama himself informed me," the man continued.

"And? Is she alright?" Hanabi asked anxiously.

Hiashi nodded. "There is also something of greater importance."

"What is it?"

Hanabi didn't like the way that her father looked uncertain. Rarely did the cold and composed Hiashi let his façade crumble. But even through that worried face that he was putting on, Hanabi could see a hint of relief – almost as if he was happy that his older daughter was finally returning to him after two years of long absence.

"Hinata has been… turned… into a jinchuuriki," he said with much effort.

A clatter was heard in the silent room. Hanabi had spilled her cup. Her eyes were wide, ignoring the fact that the contents of said cup were hot and that they spilled on her lap.

"O-onee…" she said, barely able to string the words together.

"Yes," Hiashi confirmed. "Hinata is now the jinchuuriki of the three-tails."

"Three-tails…" Hanabi murmured, her usually pale face whiter than ever. "H-how?"

"Kakashi-sama has promised that he will explain in time," Hiashi assured his daughter. "He also confirmed to me that Hinata is of good health and that Tsunade-sama has taken care of her. Let us trust the Hokage and your sister to tell us everything in good time."

Hanabi didn't say anything. It was true that after the war, the entire shinobi community viewed jinchuuriki and their bijuu differently. It was all thanks to Uzumaki Naruto. But still, she realized that her sister would still go through the hardships of being able to control her new power. She also knew that the villagers still hold a slight intimidation and trepidation to the threats this incredible gift could pose to their safety.

She also realized that being who her elder sister was, Hinata readily accepted this duty. She may have understood the risks and still pushed through. Somehow, Hanabi cursed her sister's want of being able to understand Naruto better.

_Is this where you understand him better, onee-san? Being a jinchuuriki yourself? Would that even make you soul mates?!_

Hanabi couldn't stop the worry and the anger that permeated her very core. She understood that her sister always put the best interests of others before herself. But this was all too much.

"Do not tell anyone about this, Hanabi," Hiashi said. "We have to protect your sister at all costs. It won't be a secret to shinobi of higher rank, of course, but at least the people… they wouldn't easily understand."

"Yes father," Hanabi swore, her expression set.

"Protect your sister," Hiashi added. "I am certain that there is still more to this than what Kakashi himself knows. We must be prepared."

"And what about the clan, father?"

"They shall be informed. We need the entire strength of the Hyuuga clan to protect Hinata," Hiashi replied.

This time, Hanabi smiled. "I doubt that for all her newly found strength, she would need more protecting."

Hiashi managed a soft expression. "I know. But it is still vital."

Hanabi acquiesced. "When will she be returning, father? I have to make preparations."

"A week or so."

* * *

Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, and Shizune gathered around in the Hokage's office. If one would peek into them, they would have been curious as to what they were looking at. And if only anyone would see what they were circling at, it would have been a funny sight indeed.

An obese toad, shrunken to his not-so-usual size was standing on a scroll that held many complicated seals, illustrations, and characters. He was staring at his companions with huge fascination, along with demanding great number of snacks in exchange.

"G-gamatatsu," Naruto said in embarrassment, for he was the one who was tasked to summon this creature. "Where is Gamakichi? Or the old man?"

"They're busy," the toad replied, not caring that his summoner didn't obviously want him to be here. "Where's my snack, Naruto-kun?"

"A-anou, Gamatatsu," Sakura interjected. "Now's not really a good time for snacks."

Gamatatsu automatically had tears in his eyes. "W-what? But – "

"Get us to Mt. Myoboku," Sasuke said authoritatively, sealing the deal with his harsh statement and causing the toad to bawl uncontrollably.

"Mt. Myoboku?" Naruto asked, ignoring the crying Gamatatsu and looking at Sasuke and Kakashi. "Is that why you made me summon? We're going there?"

"Yes," Kakashi answered. "Now's not the time to answer your questions, Naruto. The old sage himself will answer them for you."

"What do you mean?!" Naruto demanded. "Does Ogama-sennin know where Hinata is?"

"Yes," Sasuke replied. "Now shut up and let's just get this over with."

Naruto grumpily complied and did his best to calm Gamatatsu down. With Shizune's help, they finally managed to give Gamatatsu his snack.

"I will transport you now," the young toad said, sucking on a piece of candy. Before the team could react, there was a flash of blinding light, a squeezing sensation, and they were gone.

Shizune sighed as she cleaned up the mess that the departing shinobi made when they were still there.

_Good luck, minna._

* * *

**Yayyy. :)**


End file.
